Stone Is Not Ice
by My Heart Within Wammy's House
Summary: Isa's first and only love was Lea's younger sister, Aika. After the Radiant Garden was invaded and they were separated, they all became Nobodies, shortly after the friendship had already crumbled down. When Sai'x finds her Nobody, Xiaka, will he deny her as someone who he once loved, or will he accept that Nobodies have emotions? Perhaps she's right. Perhaps he has changed. OneShot


"You've changed." she said with her spirits low and disappointment high. He didn't say anything in return. She gave him the simple most hurt look in the eyes, pale, blue orbs of innocence clashing with the yellow malice flickering back at her, turned away, and walked off. That was it. After all that those two had been through together. Perhaps he was correct to believe that feeling as a Nobody was futile. Yes, of course he was.

But if Nobodies couldn't feel, where would he find definition for that infuriation burning darkly red inside of him? What else could explain the weight of betrayal and sorrowful solitude burdening him to the ground? These "feelings" were what made him who was as a Nobody, and without them, he would be lost and uncertain. Perhaps it would've been for the better. No, he was who he needed to be.

It was almost as if there was an endless pit of darkness in the empty place where his heart would've been, replacing somberness with envy, loneliness with hate, and uncertainty with anger. When he watched her walk away from their past like that, he felt the slightest _flicker_ of remorse, but it was almost immediately gone and replaced by a callous wrath clawing at him from the inside; a beast desperate to escape its cage.

_Goodbye, Aika, _Sai'x thought to himself, lightly clenching his fists together. No, this wasn't the Aika that he knew. This was merely Xiaka, a Nobody who was no good for him. Most would think that Aika's becoming a Nobody would give she and Sai'x more similarities. The girl from his childhood had died long ago.

_"Do you know what his name is?" Aika asked her elder brother, Lea, pointing out the blue-haired boy in the distance. He flashed her a cheeky grin._

_ "Oh, you mean him? That's Isa. I-S-A. Got it memorized?" said Lea. His sister giggled at the sound of his catchphrase. He was a bit curious of what his little sister wanted with his best friend. _

_ "Have you ever told him about me?" she asked, not understanding his laughter afterward. He ruffled her silky, ginger hair._

_ "Might've mentioned you a few times." Lea told her, scratching his head. He interrupted her before she could utter another question, "…you know, about how you're such a little pain, always wrecking the house and spying on my friends, and stuff…"_

_ Aika stomped her little feet in protest_

_ "Hey, that's not true! You're the one who always causes trouble, Lea!" she complained in her own defense. He loved having a younger sibling to tease._

That was the day that Sai'x and Xiaka had first met, only, they were Isa and Aika. He and Lea were eight, while she, herself, was only six. For the first few years, they had a decent friendship; well, it was about as decent as a friendship between an eight and six year-old could be. Being the younger one of the three musketeers, Aika was normally left out of Lea and Isa's activities together. Once Isa had reached the age of sixteen and Aika fourteen, things began to change. They were able to share a sense of maturity and sincerity that they couldn't earlier in the friendship, because they were simply too young.

_"I've never seen the moon rise before." said Aika, sitting in the grass on the picnic blanket that Isa had laid out for them._

_ "Well, if you're planning to catch a glimpse of it tonight, then I suggest for you to at least pay attention." he told her, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to face the night glittered with stars. Where they lived, the moon always rose after dark had already fallen. Tonight, it was already in its place, in its luminescent glory. _

When Sai'x saw the moon, an untimely anger would be provoked. Members of the Organization had no choice but to assume it was a part of his power as a Nobody, but it was something more than that. After all of those nights of watching the moon with her, what would it remind Sai'x of rather than Aika?

_ "I had a feeling you were trying to deceive me. The moon doesn't rise like the sun does." said Aika. _

_ "Well, Aika, I can't say I'm surprised that you've caught me." Isa said. She chewed her bottom lip contemplatively._

_ "Isa, if you knew this all initially, then why would you ask me to watch the 'moonrise' with you?" she asked. He took a moment for consideration and looked her straight in the eyes. Aika instantly sensed that something rather…different…was stirring up. _

_ "It was an excuse." he told her, immediately placing his hands on her shoulders and kissing her full on the mouth. Aika had hardly expected this night with her friend to take such a turn, but, nonetheless, she sort of…liked it. Of course, before being able to enjoy the kiss, Aika was taken aback beyond comprehension, but once that initial reaction was out of the way, the kiss was pleasant. _

That was the first kiss that Isa and Aika shared together, and honestly, it wasn't followed by too many more. She had to work hard in order to get a kiss from him, but once successful, it was worth it. As Isa and Aika began to grow more romantically, his friendship with Lea had begun to weaken. Lea had, at first, given the relationship his approval, until he acknowledged that it had started to affect his friendship with Isa. Things just weren't like they used to be. He remembered when he first found Isa at dawn after that night, who apparently had fallen asleep gazing at the moon, but…his younger sister, Aika, was snuggled against Isa's side.

_Lea shook the two sleeping teenagers until they darted upward, eyes barely open._

_ "What do you two think you're doing?" said Lea._

_ "We _were_ taking a nap, but…" her brother interrupted her._

_ "A nap? Please, from the looks of it, you guys have been here all night." he told her._

_ "Does it bother you?" asked Isa. Lea laughed a bit._

_ "Nah, just not used to having my best friend sleeping with my sister, is all." he answered. Aika scowled at him._

_ "We didn't _sleep_ together. Well, in principle, we did, but not in the way that you're implying." Aika defended._

_"We _fell_ asleep together." Isa corrected._

_ "Alright, I believe you. But, hey, do me a favor: if you guys _do_ get into all that sexual stuff, spare me the details. I don't wanna hear it. Got it memorized?" said Lea. He was rewarded by a smack across the face from his sister. She turned away to hide the blush forming upon her cheeks._

_ "You have quite a nerve." she told her brother. _

_ "Besides, this relationship begun only just last night, she's still too young, and you would murder me, Lea." Isa said, getting a snicker from Lea, while Aika was blushing even darker._

In a multitude of situations, Lea was beginning to think that Isa favored Aika over him, and that their relationship really was coming between their friendship. Albeit, there wouldn't be much that he could do about it. Lea hadn't a choice but to deal with the situation and accept it as it was. It was just that, Isa was supposed to be his best friend, right?

About a week after finally putting his ponderings and jealousy aside, that's when Lea and Isa first begun to fight. Sometimes Lea would be too defensive of his sister just for the sake of making Isa angry, and other times Isa would try to convince Aika to side _against_ her own brother (in certain situations). The sanctity of friendship and siblinghood was becoming a joke for these three, and all bonds had been placed on the back burner. Lea began to grow a bit more selfish, while Isa a bit more bitter than usual.

Aika hated being the innocent cause of it all. Although she loved Isa, she didn't want it to mean destroying a friendship that had shared so much enjoyment and surpassed so many obstacles and times of hardship. But if she ended things with Isa, she feared that it was still too late for him and Lea to return to the way they were.

None of that mattered on the day the Heartless first invaded the Radiant Garden, a day that the three of them wouldn't soon forget.

_"We don't have time for this, let's go!" said Isa._

_ "But, we don't have anywhere else to go. This is the only place we've ever had to call a home. Isa, we don't know the roads of the outside world. We'll be hopeless and lost." Aika said quietly. She wasn't reassured by the sudden squeeze of his hand. She couldn't fixate away from that haunting look that he was giving her in the eyes, a look that told her everything was pointless, and that anything good out of life was a lie. _

_ "We have to go, now!" Isa shouted._

_ "Where is Lea? We can't just leave him!" exclaimed Aika. He let go of her hand and wasn't aware of his own, defiant stare. Distinctly, there was something disturbing Aika, but he assumed that it was her brother._

_ "Lea isn't here, anymore. He left on his own." he told her. Her facial expression conveyed what Isa took to be horror._

_ "The Heartless…" _

_ "No, he set off to the unknown." _

_ "We need to locate him." said Aika. Isa flinched in annoyance._

_ "No. Lea left because he wanted to. He doesn't care about us, anymore, Aika, don't you get it?" he said firmly. Aika gritted her teeth._

_ "I know that he may not care about us, but we still need to find him. Unlike himself, we remain loyal to those who matter to us, and we can't be seen as hypocrites or stooping to the level of the likes of betrayers." she said. He had a flicker of contemplation, but it died out quicker than a match thrown in a toilet._

_ "We would never make it, he wouldn't listen to us, and the Heartless have most likely gotten the best of him by now." said Isa. _

_ "I'm going to search for my brother. You can join me, if you like, but if not, I'm not changing my mind." Aika said. Without any hesitation or reluctance, he answered._

_ "Then, I guess, this is goodbye." said Isa._

Xiaka would never forget how that statement had made her feel. With that, it had seemed that Isa was simply throwing away everything that they had ever had together, and casting it off into the sea. It was as if he never even cared. Didn't all of that mean anything to him? The hurt and despair afterward contributed quite a bit to Aika becoming a Nobody.

_Before Isa walked out of that room, Aika spared him a few final words._

_ "I love you." she said hoarsely, the pain clear in her tone. No facial expression whatsoever, he simply turned away, and walked out. That was the last that they had ever seen of each other._

Sai'x had almost been able to forget about her, until today, when he met her Nobody, Xiaka. Over their time apart, she had grown to be a beautiful, young woman, even if she was no longer human in the flesh. Her wine-colored hair was long and curled, and even without blood, her skin blushed and freckled under the sun. Xiaka's eyes were that same pale blue of the moon that they used to watch, appearing almost grey. To him, she was far more attractive than someone like Xion or Larxene. They weren't women; they were girls. They didn't have that sense of elegance and maturity that Xiaka did, and most importantly, didn't share a childhood with Sai'x.

Today, he had discovered her about to be finished off by a large Darkside. For a single moment, Xiaka had felt that maybe the lost love could be restored, just for a single moment. That's when Sai'x proclaimed that he had saved her on accident, and that he wouldn't be there next time. Strangely, it didn't seem as though he was pretending not to recognize her.

_"We do not have hearts, Aika. We cannot be within the fields of ecstasy, we cannot mourn, and above all else, we cannot love." said Sai'x._

_ "Don't call me 'Aika'. My name is Xiaka, now." she told him, because she could hardly handle sounds of her past._

_ "Oh, well, the solution is simple. If you can call me 'Sai'x', rather than 'Isa', I will refer to you as 'Xiaka', from now on. Prove that it is just as simple as you proclaim." he challenged._

_ "Isa…" said Xiaka. _

_ "I thought so." he said. _

_ "We don't need hearts to feel, Isa." she protested._

_ "I have heard that said enough times for one day." Sai'x complained. She moved on to a new subject._

_ "Is Lea...?"_

_ "Axel. He's moved on, Aika. In fact, I highly doubt he's even thought of you, of late. We've been replaced by puppets." he told her._

_ "…puppets?" _

_ "Childlike and imperfect replications of an actual Keyblade master."_

_ "A real…Keyblade master?" whispered Xiaka. Her nonexistent heart ached for the wondrous turquoise eyes he used to have. What had happened to him? Was Isa truly gone? Sai'x didn't look much like the Isa she knew. He looked…evil._

_ "Dismiss it." he uttered._

_ "But, Isa,"_

_ "Dismiss it!" shouted Sai'x, giving her a slap on the face, the sting evident in her reddening cheek. It was the most dreadful feeling. She remembered the gentle way he used to touch her face during those nights under the moon when he thought she was asleep._

_"You've changed." she said with her spirits low and disappointment high. He didn't say anything in return. She gave him the simple most hurt look in the eyes, pale, blue orbs of innocence clashing with the yellow malice flickering back at her, turned away, and walked off. That was it. After all that those two had been through together._

He had shunned an opportune time to rid of his everlasting loneliness, not even thinking of what he had done or said. He _had_ changed. She hadn't even time to find a way to get inside of his empty world. This time, he would really never see her again.

Stone is not ice, and it cannot be melted by even the most potent warmth.

Perhaps he was wrong…


End file.
